


Down Time

by sgteam14283



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, Genderswap, Tumblr: jaegercon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 10:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/925249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgteam14283/pseuds/sgteam14283
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the day they were all in the same boat together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [charybdis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charybdis/gifts).



> This is part one of my gift for **atreefullofmonkeys** over on Tumblr for the Jaegercon Gift Exchange where she wanted a [female Tendo](http://atreefullofmonkeys.tumblr.com/post/57317773457/lunchtime-conversation-with-my-workspace-fanboy) (best bowtie-wearing lesbian ever) as well as what the drift technology could be applied to after closing the breach and I have to say that the bunnies just jumped at the idea! Set before the Mako/Raleigh fight in the movie and I don't own anything you recognize, I'm just playing in the sandbox. Enjoy!

“Where’d you get your tattoos?” 

The question was unexpected and Tendo turned around to face Chuck. “Why do you want to know?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Chuck shrugged and took a swing of his drink, some of the moonshine that one of the triplets crew had cooked up. He was glad for the makeshift bar that they’d set up at one unused end of the Shatterdome, gave people a place to unwind and find a bright spot in an otherwise dreary world. “They’re unusual for...”

“A girl?” Tendo finished with a smile and chuckled a little when Chuck flushed slightly. She’d heard the question before and didn’t mind it anymore. From the start Tendo knew she was different. While other girls her age wore dresses and high heels, she wore suspenders and a bow tie. They liked boys and she liked girls. They knew how to pick out the perfect outfit and makeup. She had a gift for electronics and liked figuring out how to jimmy it all together. Her room in San Francisco had been cluttered with circuit boards, wires, soldering equipment, and old computers gutted for their inner workings. 

She liked to play with things and that made her perfect for LOCCENT. 

Turning so that she was leaning against the bar, while silently thanking the Russians for finding it, she continued, “I got them after I got out of prison.” 

“Prison?” Chuck asked while raising an eyebrow, surprised at the revelation. Since coming to the Hong Kong Shatterdome he’d been intrigued by Tendo, having seen her on a few trips to Alaska that he made with Herc; always in suspenders and a bow tie, making sure the control center ran smooth even though Gipsy was out of order. “Can I ask what for?” 

“Stole the wrong car and it was my third strike.” She replied with a shrug. “But I got out early on good behavior so don’t ask me if I killed anyone.”

“You’re funny.” Chuck replied with a smile and drained the rest of his drink. Refilling it, he looked up and saw Mako walking past them. “Hey, Mako! Over here!” he called out, getting her attention. 

“Hey.” Mako said once she moved through the crowd that was starting to form, a sign that those off shift were making their way over. “Have either of you seen Raleigh?”

Tendo shook her head, “Nah, most likely in his bunk trying to unwind from the first round of candidates. Why?” 

“Nothing important.” Mako replied with a shake of her head. “That reminds me! I got that shade of nail polish you like, Tendo. It’s in my quarters if you want to stop by and get it.” 

“Thanks a bunch Mako. I’ll do that later.” Tendo said with a smile as she caught Chuck’s expression. “Don’t look so surprised Hansen. Just because I don’t dress like a girl doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good nail polish. Especially when I have a date tomorrow.” 

“With who?” Mako asked with a smile as Chuck gave Max a pat and then finished his drink in a big gulp. 

“One of the tech’s on Eureka’s crew...ah, I forget her name. I met her the other day when they were bringing the jaeger in. She’s got red hair and really nice eyes.” 

“Lauren?” Chuck asked in a surprised tone. He’d met her in Sydney when she’d first arrived, he made it a point to know all of Striker Eureka’s crew, and they had flirted a bit but other than that he’d had little contact with her.

“Yeah, that’s it-Lauren!” Tendo smiled and nodded after remembering. “She’s cute.” 

“She’s okay.” Chuck muttered darkly while looking into his empty glass.

“So what are your plans after this?” Tendo asked, changing the subject. 

“What do you mean?” Mako knitted her eyebrows in confusion while looking at her friends.

“Well, when the nuke destroys the bridge, there won’t be any use for any of this. Any of us really, we’ll be obsolete. And they’ve already cut our funding.” Once Stacker had told Tendo the plan, so she could start prepping the center as well as working on getting extra shielding for Striker Eureka and whatever else came up, she couldn’t help but start to wonder what they’d all do after it was over.

Chuck and Mako were silent as they considered Tendo’s question. It had vaguely occurred to both of them that when the bridge was closed they’d be out of jobs, but hadn’t given it much thought until Tendo asked them. 

“I guess I’d keep on restoring the jaegers. Maybe the UN will turn them into monuments or something.” Mako finally said, breaking the silence. “But I’ll most likely go with Stacker and wherever they send him after this.” She turned to Chuck while asking, “What about you Chuck. What would you do?”

Chuck was silent for a few more seconds, not sure what to say. He’d only thought of the run to the breach and not much after-he knew that there was the possibility of not coming back but there was that every time him and Herc went out in Striker. Idly twirling his empty glass on the wooden counter of the bar he shrugged, “Dunno. Maybe when they see how we handled the kaiju in Sydney and then closed the breach, they’ll decide to keep the jaegers around for a bit-make sure that it’s really closed. After that...maybe I’ll hang out at Bondi Bay for a bit. It’s been awhile since I was able to surf for an extended period of time.” 

“It’s probably been hard with first kaiju blue and then the wall going up.” Mako said, placing a friendly hand on Chuck’s shoulder. 

Tendo looked at the pair and could feel the friendship between the two. From what Mako had told her during one of the times they grabbed rations together, she and Chuck had been friends-playmates even when Stacker traveled to Australia or Herc had to travel to the Academy, but as they grew up Chuck’s desire to become a pilot and Stacker’s refusal to let Mako do the same threw a wedge between the two and while they were still friendly it wasn’t like it was when they were little.

“-kaiju blue fucked the water it was a nice spot to catch some waves.” Chuck’s reply broke Tendo out of her musings and she caught the sour look on his face as he let go of his glass so that it landed on the wood with a _thud_.

“What about you Tendo?” Mako asked, steering the conversation back to the original question. “What are you going to do after they clear the Shatterdome?”

“Eh, dunno.” Tendo said as she ran a hand through her styled hair. “I’ll most likely be here until they ship everything out so I probably have more time than you guys. Maybe I’ll see if the some company has need for a former LOCCENT command officer.” She took a sip of her drink before continuing, “But you know what they should do with all this tech after the war? They could make a jaeger for each country and giant arena. That way when they all have a problem with each other, instead of sending guns and people to kill each other they can have jaegers fight each other and which ever doesn’t get pummeled wins. They could sell tickets and show it on TV; make a killing in ads plus concessions, that way no one gets killed _and_ they still profit from it.”

Tendo looked at the surprised faces of Chuck and Mako and could tell they hadn’t expected that answer. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.” she explained with a slight shrug. It was partly true, when she was off duty or had a few minutes in the control center where no one was demanding her attention she gave the commercial applications of the tech some consideration. After all, they couldn’t just mothball it; not after all the money the world had sunk into it.

“You think?” Chuck asked, an eyebrow raising. “Kinda like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, right?” 

“Kinda.” Tendo admitted with a hesitant smile.

“I like it though. And you’re right, they’d make a killing in sales.” 

“What’s Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots?” Mako asked, confused at what Chuck and Tendo were talking about.

“You don’t know what they are?” Tendo asked, wondering briefly what kind of toys Mako had grown up with. 

“No...should I?” 

Chuck laughed, “Only if you want to get the jokes that the crews make. Okay, so it’s a game that takes two players and...” 

Tendo tuned Chuck out as he began to explain it to Mako and she couldn’t help but smile a little at how he had lit up at the suggestion. It was the end of the world so why not go out debating if the Jaeger program was a real life application of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots?

**Author's Note:**

> the prison reference comes from an interview with Clifton Collins Jr (who played Tendo) where he believes Tendo's a reformed convict, which I can see given what he did in the movie and that Tendo was working the docks during K-Day (how does one go from dock worker to ranking officer for LOCCENT), so I felt it would be a fun thing to add to give the character a bit more.


End file.
